International cricket captains and their salaries in 2021

The cricket fever is extremely high this year, with several important fixtures lined up. While India and New Zealand will cross swords in the inaugural ICC World Test Championship final next month, the T20 World Cup is slated to take place later this year. Hence, cricket fans all over the world should mark their calendars and brace themselves to witness some exciting contest between the bat and the ball.

Cricket is indeed one of the most popular sports across the globe. Hence, the pressure of expectations is high on the players. However, one person who takes ownership of the entire team’s show is the captain. Apart from putting up individual performances, a captain has added responsibilities like making on-field decisions and team selections. Hence, a majority of the international cricket skippers are centrally contracted and receive salaries accordingly.

Captains of all sides receive different salaries based on their national board’s norms, policy, and financial status. Generally, cricket boards announce annual contracts every year which determine the salary of a player in that year. There are also certain boards who treat their captains special and offer them a different contract with a higher sum.

International cricket captains and their salaries at the current time

8. Sri Lanka: Dimuth Karunaratne – INR 51.03 lakh, Kusal Perera – INR 25 lakh

The last few years haven’t been memorable from Sri Lankan cricket by any means. They lost one series after another, and their position in ICC rankings narrates the entire story.  Sri Lanka doesn’t feature among the top seven teams in any format and their glory days aren’t likely to come back anytime soon.

One of the main reasons behind their poor show is not having a settled team. They even have changed as many as nine ODI captains in the last four years, with Kusal Perera being the latest one at the helm. The southpaw is also likely to lead the side in T20Is.  At the same time, Dimuth Karunaratne leads the side in the Test matches.

The pay dispute is also one of many problems haunting Sri Lankan cricket in recent years. Moreover, the COVID-19 crisis has affected the board even more poorly. As per the latest contracts, Test captain, Dimuth Karunaratne receives an annual salary of USD 70,000 while white-ball skipper Kusal Perera gets $35,000 per year.